Saddam mourns sons’ deaths in new tape

Al-Arabiya satellite TV on Tuesday aired what it said was a new audiotape of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein mourning his sons Uday and Qusay, killed by US forces in Iraq a week ago.

Saddam vows nation will follow sons' paths in fighting US occupation

“We thank God for honouring us with their martyrdom for His sake” after a “valiant battle with the enemy lasting six hours,” said the voice said to be of the ousted Iraqi president.

  

The voice warned that “the youth of our nation (Arab world) and Iraq (will follow) Uday, Qusay and (Qusay’s son) Mustafa in the arena of jihad (holy war)”.

 

The tape on the Dubai-based news channel came exactly a week after Uday and Qusay, the latter’s teenage son Mustafa and a bodyguard were killed in a massive US raid on a villa in the northern city of Mosul, along with a 14-year-old boy thought to be one of their sons and another person.

 

 “I mourn to you the deaths of Uday and Qusay and those who struggled with them. You are the honour of this nation,” the
tape said. “America will be defeated.” 
 

The voice gave the date of the recording as July 2003, without specifying the day.

 

“We thank God for honouring us with their martyrdom for His sake.”

— Deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein

“Beloved Iraqis, your sons and brothers — Uday, Qusay and Qusay’s son Mustafa — practised an act of faith in the arena of jihad in Mosul, after a valiant battle with the enemy lasting a full six hours,” the message said.

 

“The armies of aggression equipped with all kinds of weapons of land forces could not reach them until aircraft were used (to bomb) the house in which they were present …

 

“Once more I tell our faithful people and our glorious (Arab) nation that (we) sacrifice lives and money  for the sake of God, Iraq and our nation … If Saddam Hussein had 100 sons other than Uday and Qusay, Saddam Hussein would have offered them on the same path (of martyrdom).”

 

It was the fifth tape attributed to Saddam since his overthrow by US-led occupation forces on 9 April but the first to mention the killing of Uday and Qusay, the latter once his heir apparent.

 

Most of the previous tapes aired on Arab TV stations were deemed authentic by US intelligence at a time when Saddam continues to elude US forces who have intensified the hunt for the elusive former strongman.

Source: News Agencies